DI insurance still doesn’t sell itself and client/advisor relationships still reign supreme.

The disability market is also seeing frequent back-office movement and changes in underwriting methodologies that make DI insurance sales more attractive to clients and easier processing for retailers.

Many domestic and international DI industry players have broadened their marketing of simplified-issue and guaranteed-issue plans on both group and individual chassis, allowing them to reduce their frequent use of expensive medical underwriting staff and save on costly and time-consuming, policy-paperwork generation. These overhead expense savings, theoretically, in turn, translate into lower premiums for the consumer.

Besides the hefty discounts associated with simplified and guaranteed-issue underwriting, insured persons enjoy comprehensive disability benefits with a fortuitous lack of medical condition exclusions. Furthermore, prospects are spared the inconvenience of intrusive paramedical exams and blood and urine draws.

As is evident from the popularity of plans employing simplified underwriting, insurance companies are more frequently utilizing comfortable risk pools to pass savings on to consumers while expanding their market reach. This pooling of risk has become beneficial even throughout the individual DI market, considering the recent uptick in association-sponsored DI insurance platforms.

Despite the immense volume of digital-based marketing and online enrollment programs found in the personallines insurance industry today, the reliable source of DI insurance sales remains in the hands of experienced agents and brokers. DI insurance still doesn’t sell itself, and client/advisor relationships still reign supreme. Much of the business world now takes place in the digital realm, but it seems that the DI insurance market, although certainly testing the waters, is not quite fully there yet.

Joe Russo is an underwriter and account executive at Petersen International Underwriters. He is a “specialty market” life and disability insurance expert and the editor-in-chief of Petersen International’s weekly publication, The Communicator.